Dear Global Village,
for the rest of the year I will be coming to you to be in circle. Telling you stories to nourish you, on my Dub Nomad Tour 2026. See the tour dates to see when I will be near. If you would like to invite me specifically, I am honoured to receive your invitation.
In kindness, d’bi.young
Biography
Dr. d’bi.young anitafrika is an internationally celebrated dub poet, biomythicist, theatre-maker, & liberatory pedagogue whose Ubuntu-centred decoliberatory work spans performance, teaching, & arts leadership across four continents. Laureate of the 2026 Celebration of Cultural Life Award, the 2025 Metcalf Performing Arts Prize, & the 2023 Siminovitch Finalist Prize in Playwriting, she shapes contemporary theatre and performance training through her pioneering methodology, the Anitafrika Dub Praxis.
Dr. anitafrika has authored twelve plays, released seven dub poetry albums, published four poetry collections, and headlined festivals and theatre seasons worldwide. Her contributions have been recognised with numerous honours, including three Dora Awards, the Canadian Poet of Honour Award, and a Global Leader in Theatre and Performance distinction from Arts Council England.
Dr. anitafrika’s groundbreaking PhD theorises Black womyn’s theatre and addresses critical research gaps in performance scholarship on Black womyn. Visionary practitioner-scholar, she has lectured at Addis Ababa University in Ethiopia, Edna Manley College in Jamaica, the University of Victoria in North Turtle Island, the University of Glasgow in the UK, Stanislavski Theatre School in Poland, and the Sandberg Institute in the Netherlands.
Founding Artistic Director of the Watah Theatre, Black Theatre School, and Spolrusie Publishing, Dr. anitafrika is also co-editor of Free To Be More: Creative Activism in the Era of Black Lives Matter and the Principal Researcher of the Black Womyn in Theatre Archive in North Turtle Island. Dr. anitafrika is currently touring internationally offering, performances, workshops, & artist intensives with cultural organisations, theatre companies, & universities.